Notations Used in the Model

Set of buyers who procure multiple units in order to fulfill some demand, j = 1,2.../ 

Cost of acquiring one unit of product i from supplier k at price level m Quantity at which incremental price breaks occurs for product i by supplier k 

Fixed ordering cost associated with supplier k Demand of product i for buyer j 

Lead-time of supplier k to produce and supply product i to buyer j. The lead-time of different buyers could be different because of geographical distances 

Quality that supplier k maintains for product i, which is measured as percent of defects 

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A mathematical programming model is formulated to solve the configuration problem. The notations used in the model are defined in Table 14.2. 

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